Artist Ai Weiwei released on bail by Chinese police

Ai tells the Guardian that he is in good health and back with his family after more than two months in detention

Chinese police have released detained artist Ai Weiwei on bail after he confessed to tax evasion and because he suffers from a chronic disease, according to the state-run news agency. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

"His detention was political and his release is political. It is the result of a huge domestic and international outcry that forced the government to this resolution … I think Beijing realised how damaging it was to hold China's most famous artist in detention," he said.

Bequelin said he expected Ai to be allowed to return home, but that he would probably not be allowed to travel abroad without official permission and would have to report to police regularly.

The Chinese government has said that Ai was arrested for economic crimes, although his family believe it was retaliation for his social and political activism.

Some human rights campaigners thought the economic focus of the allegations was intended to make it harder for other governments to press Ai's case. But others suggested that it offered officials the possibility of drawing back – as they appear to have done – whereas it would have been too embarrassing to drop political charges.